Thunderstorms

That's Val For You

I drew the curtains of our room back, taking in the landscape greeting me on the other side. I opened the window and breathed in the fresh air of the estancia, feeling myself smiling against it after so long. All of a sudden, a pair of strong arms took me from behind, snaking around my waist, and soon Alex's chin was pressing against my shoulder.

"You look beautiful in spring" Alex muttered, making me chuckle.

"Only in spring?" I retorted, looking at him form my side.

"Shut up, you know you always do" Alex snorted. "But your nose gets really red in winter" I burst out laughing, elbowing him in his ribs and breaking free from his grip.

"Smells like someone's making breakfast downstairs" I said. "We should go and check"

"Sure, darling" Alex replied. We got dressed and made our way down the stairs, giggling all the way, until I noticed Marco worriedly staring out the window, leaning on the kitchen countertop.

"Morning, big brother" I chirped. Marco turned to look at us, nodding his head.

"Hey" He barely replied. "Val's waiting for you at the vineyard" I stopped dead in my tracks, wondering why everything was sounding so serious.

"Oh" I let out. "When did he arrive?"

"A couple of hours ago" Marco answered. "You were still sleeping, so he went off to work"

"Do I have to go, like, right now? Or can I have breakfast first?" I joked.

"Depends on how much you want to keep him waiting" Marco declared, folding his arm over his chest. "Just a little piece of advice; the more he waits, the angrier he'll get" I rolled my eyes at him, taking two mugs form the kitchen cabinet, and pouring coffee into them.

"I know how to handle him" I established. "I'm not afraid of Val"

"Do as you please" Marco shrugged, sipping from his mate. I motioned for Alex to follow me into the dining room, and we both carried our breakfast there.

"Hey, baby brother" I greeted. Romeo was eating from his bowl of cereal, reading something from his cell phone.

"Hey" He exclaimed, smiling at us. "What are you guys doing today?" Luckily, he was in a better mood than Marco.

"Uhm, I don't know" I replied, shooting Alex a warm smirk. "I should probably go and see Val first"

"Oh, yeah, you should" Romeo agreed. "He's excited to see you"

"Really?" I inquired, feeling anxious all of a sudden. As much as I hated to admit it, meeting Val again after so long was a big deal, and it kind of made me panic a bit. "Marco said he's been waiting for me"

"Yeah, well, he didn't want to wake you up" Romeo explained. "He said he was going to wait until you got out of bed"

"Well, I'll go meet him as soon as I'm done with my food" I stated, while Romeo stood up from the table and went to the kitchen to wash his dish. "Do you think you'll be able to cope with these two while I go and meet Val?" I asked to Alex. "I think it'll be better if I see him on my own first and, you know... prepare him" Alex softly smiled.

"Whatever you think will spare me from my death" Alex replied, causing me to giggle.

"I'll tell Romeo to stay with you" I determined. "He's the easiest one to handle. Hey, Ro!" I yelled, and he suddenly popped his head from behind the door. "What will you be up to today?"